64 Athena (II)

For a fleeting moment, Athena was afraid that Apollo was entering his divine form with his descent, which could literally unleash a supernova on the face of the earth. But, thank Gaea, it was just Apollo being Apollo: sunny and flashy. He had assumed a new image befitting his position as the God of the Sun.

Apollo should be a suitable candidate for the position of "God of Theatrics." It could even be said that he inherited the dramatic gene from their father.

Athena glanced at the shattered sky. It was healing, with the night burying the light and then banishing dawn into darkness. Millions of stars from the Milky Way and beyond gradually returned to the sky, glistening with cosmic light.

She also felt more in the sky. The eyes of the gods and goddesses were on her and her brothers. She recognized the gazes of their father, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Helios, Selene, Aphrodite, and many other divine beings.

Her event had captured the attention of the entire Western world. Such acclaim was unexpected, but the divine race of Apollo and Hermes completely elevated the impact and significance of her games on the civilization and its history.

It's not that Athena didn't consider inviting the gods to participate in her games in order to increase the impact of them. But they were proud beings at heart; most divine beings would have rejected it because it would be beneath them to participate in mortal and demigod games...…

Athena turned her stormy gaze to her stadium. Sun worshippers in the western world were still chanting Apollo's divine title with such zeal that it seemed as if they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice their lives if Apollo so desired. The awful truth is that they really might. The sun worshippers took their devotion to a whole new level.

While Hermes crossed his hands and observed her stadium, Apollo waved his hands at his followers with a brilliant smile that elicited a new wave of raucous roars.

Deciding it was enough, Athena raised her hand. She allowed her divinity to overflow from her and connect with her knowledge in all humans across the western world. Then she directly transmitted her command to their brains.

And humanity fell silent in submission to her will.

Apollo and Hermes turned to her, but before she could even open her mouth, the Sunny interpreted her.

Apollo said to Hermes. "Let us grant something to the games, Hermes. It is the best we can do after interfering with Athena's plans."

Hermes merely nodded, his visage slowly returning to its ever-vehemence. It at least showed he was recovering. Hermes had been an emotional wreck since the day before. He immediately left Delphi after finalizing the match. Apollo was still concerned about their brother and informed Hermes' mother, Maia, of the situation, lest he do something really idiotic again.

Athena paused as the thoughts raced through her head. "Apollo, just by participating in my games, you are already...."

"Still," Apollo insisted. "Let us."

After a brief moment of thought, Athena nodded. There was no reason for her to refuse, and she was eager to see what they would grant. They teleported to the center of the arena, which was vacant since Athena planned to hold the award ceremony with Nike here.

Apollo looked at Hermes and they nodded. They appeared to have finished a secret communication solely through their eyes.

Apollo and Hermes were true siblings, while she didn't even try to put effort into maintaining that relationship with them.

Looking at them now, Athena felt her heart empty, and questions began to crawl into the void in her heart. But she steeled herself immediately, purging those questions from her heart.

It didn't matter. Revenge and vengeance come above all. She will not rest until the head of her father rests on the tip of her bloodied spear.

'You must live, Athena.' Her mother had said. 'Live for yourself and no one else.'

Her grip on her spear tightened ever so slightly. She didn't dare show her emotions on her face—Athena had to bear it all and live to see her father's ultimate fall.

She suppressed her chaotic emotions and forced herself to refocus her gaze on her brothers.

Hermes was pressing his hand on the ground. The sand rose up, swirling and curling on itself like a small yellow tornado. The divinity of deceit was being imbued into every fine particle of sand by Hermes.

The very concepts of reality were twisted and distorted by the yellow tornado. Every particle shimmered with unseen power and coalesced together with the thrum of reality, unveiling a magnificent brazier.

The brazier was "conceptual" in essence. With his divinity of deception, Hermes has tinkered with many concepts of reality, deceiving and tricking the rules of reality to follow his will and order in its creation.

The brazier was near-perpetual, frozen in time. It was also nearly invulnerable and nearly imperishable. Even after a million years, if human civilization had long since fallen, the brazier would still be there as a remnant of its past glory.

The combination of Hermes' brilliant mind and his power of deception can never fail to amaze Athena. Many looked down on Hermes, secretly or openly. But, unlike others, Athena did not dare dismiss her eccentric brother.

Athena narrowed her eyes at them, as now Apollo and Hermes raised their hands together after crafting the brazier. Their palms faced each other, and their divinities erupted.

ROAR!

A blaze of flames immediately roared into existence in between their hands, brightening everything for a fraction of a moment. Mortals closed their eyes, unable to bear the glare of the seething flames.

Athena squinted her eyes, seeing past the brightness of the roaring flames. Apollo and Hermes turned the flames in her direction and looked into her eyes.

Oh, Gaea. She actually understood the message they wanted to convey by just exchanging glances with them.

Without delving into her thoughts, Athena complied. She raised her hand and pointed to the dazzling flames. Her divinity infused into the flames.

The flames turned brighter and brighter with her blessing, like a second sun on earth. The rays of light from the sun impacted the stratosphere. Most of the Northern Hemisphere was illuminated.

Apollo cupped the divine flames in his hand, and everything immediately dimmed. Mortals were finally able to open their eyes, and they witnessed the Eternal Blazing Sun wielding a white flame in his risen hand.

The Sun God boomed. "This is the Eternal Flame!"

"Every four years, at the start of the Olympic Games, the victor shall carry the flames throughout civilization and re-ignite the Olympic brazier in honor of Athena, and the Olympic Games shall begin."

Apollo then placed the eternal flames on the brazier. The flames burned, bright and dazzling in eternity.

The stadium immediately erupted with raucous cheers from mortals and immortals alike.

And Athena looked at them with emotional eyes. They truly immortalized the Olympic Games in time and history by granting the flames. The eternal flames symbolized unity and eternity. It carried the divine marks of wisdom, the sun, and deceit in its white embers. Her games will continue to be played every four years, bringing and uniting the civilizations together for the rest of eternity.

The main worry plaguing her heart settled down, and she is certain that this was a suggestion from Apollo. It was always like this, as if he always knew everything. Well, considering that he is also the God of Prophecy and Divination, maybe he really does. But, still, nothing can deny what Apollo was to her.

Despite being the goddess of wisdom, she couldn't understand or comprehend him. She hates mysteries almost as much as she despises her abomination of a father.

And Apollo was filled with nothing but mysteries for her.

Restraining her thoughts, Athena raised her hand, and the mortals followed her will, falling silent.

Then she said it sincerely. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, Athena." Apollo shook his head.

"It's the least we could do." Hermes added with a slight smile.

"Come on," Athena said, nodding. "It's time for your race."

They teleported to the tracks on the side of the arena without wasting time. Apollo and Hermes took their positions next to each other.

Athena walked in front of them, and everyone held their breath together.

"Brother.." Hermes whispered. "Don't hold back."

"Are you sure?" Apollo arched his brows.

"I don't care who wins." Hermes whispered. "I just want to have a race, running among the stars without worry, prejudice, or anything."

Apollo raised his fist. "Come on, then, to the stars."

Hermes chuckled and bumped fists with him. "To the stars."

Athena turned and declared, her eyes flashing with complex light. "The time is finally nigh for the divine race between the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Deceit. It is from the green of Earth to the red of Mars."

Her brothers nodded, and the countdown began, flashing into form in front of them.

Hermes' figure began to vibrate violently. Air danced through his figure, flapping the wings on his helm and boots, which began to flutter and cheer.

Meanwhile, streaks of light coursed through the body of Apollo as his hands and legs also emitted brilliant beams of light.

Time seemed to freeze. The world seemed to hold its breath. Silence seemed to reign supreme. Then, all hell derailed as the countdown ended.

Apollo and Hermes shot forth into the dark sky as if they were two comets, Apollo being white and Hermes being bronze. In an instant, the night sky across the northern hemisphere was torn, unveiling a brilliant universe for a moment: twirling galaxies, burning stars, devouring black holes, swirling planets, and in the middle of it all, the sun in its true might.

The night sky immediately closed the tear with concealment, blocking and erasing the truth of the cosmos from mortal minds.

BOOM!

A terrifying rumbling seemed to shake the world. It jolted the mortals out of their astonishment, and they glanced down at the track.

Athena held her hands together. She had restrained the terrifying force that erupted from the launch of the Apollo and Hermes within her palm.

She cursed them in her mind for their reckless selves. They didn't even bother to negate the force brought about by their speed, trusting her to deal with it. If she had been a second late, the earth would have gone poof.

"Erase." She whispered, simulating the power of order with her divinity of knowledge. And the surging and terrifying force in her hand vanished into nothingness.

Athena then turned and looked at the night sky, ignoring the eyes of mortals. The live broadcast for mortals was cut by Hecate. It was not the time for humans to learn about space and other worlds.

She focused on the race. It is from here to Mars and then back to Earth. It will take approximately 8 minutes. She isn't certain, as she didn't know the accurate speeds of her brothers. Hermes had been working hard on his speed, so much so that she wouldn't be surprised if he had managed to break through light speed, and Apollo had already achieved light speed long ago. He must have made some progress in the past few years.

Athena' gaze pierced through the night sky and onto the darkness of space. She immediately witnessed the race with the other gods and goddesses.

———————

In the dark space between Earth and Mars, Apollo and Hermes dashed away like shooting stars. Their advent illuminated the ocean of space with brilliant light to the extent that it looked as though two brilliant suns had arisen between Earth and Mars.

Hermes turned to look at his brother, who was purposefully slowing himself down and matching his pace with him. Then he nodded to his brother, as if to say, "Let's finally begin!"

Apollo nodded and snapped his fingers. Their running path glistened with light, and Hermes witnessed something that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Before them, billions of specks of light bloomed into existence, forming a cosmic running track in their path. It surged from Earth to Mars and back in a matter of seconds.

Hermes looked at the light path under his feet. It was like a river of stars, surging and gleaming brilliantly.

"To the stars.." he whispered.

Their figures began to accelerate on the cosmic track. Apollo dashed ahead of him at the speed of light, leaving him far behind in the darkness of space.

Hermes closed his eyes and immersed himself in this ceaseless moment.

Running was his way of escape, escape from the supposition, escape from the prejudice, escape from the worries, from the duties, from the world itself, to feel a moment of serenity, a moment of freedom, a moment of…

Liberation.

CRACK!

He took a steep step and shot forth in blinding light with a thunderous sound. He had finally broken through and achieved the speed of light after all of his attempts and efforts.

A bright and zealous smile plastered across his lips, and he began to run towards his brother, closing the distance between them slowly.

Apollo turned and looked at him with raised brows, as if he were surprised that he had managed to keep up with him. Then he smirked—his trademark arrogant, narcissistic smirk, which always made Hermes want to punch him in the face. Unfortunately, it also meant his brother was finally getting serious.

As if to confirm his suspicions, Apollo galloped at an even faster speed, leaving him in the dust again.

How fast is he really? Hermes thought, but he shook that thought out of his head. He really didn't care who won (it obviously will be his brother); he just wanted to run without care in this ceaseless moment of liberation. With that thought, he shot forth, squeezing out his divinity and will, and followed his brother towards the bright red planet, Mars.

They ran and ran in cosmic track, reaching Mars within two and a half minutes with Apollo at the front and Hermes at the tail, and they took a cosmic U-turn around the red planet, keeping their terrifying speed. The force from them shone brightly on the innocent planet. The entire red planet quivered and trembled thoroughly as though it might crumble on itself at any moment. However, the force and crumbling were quickly erased by Apollo.

BOOM!

They continued their race, returning to Earth with a calm and zealous smile, blitzing everything in their path to oblivion.

On Earth, mortals looked up at the night sky, filled with apprehension and anticipation. It's been nearly 6 minutes since the Eternal Blazing Sun and God of Deceit ascended into the night sky.

The dark sky was suddenly lit up with white and bronze light, jolting the mortals to their feet. They were like shooting stars in the sky, descending from the dark heavens, leaving a trail of lights, and the world trembled under their descent.

Mortals closed their teary eyes instinctively, unable to bear the glare of light yet agian. However, some still caught a glimpse of Lady Wisdom raising her hands as if to receive the shooting stars within her embrace.

Athena prepared herself, ready to negate the force from their light-speed descent onto the planet. Finally, they did; their feet touched the ground, disintegrating everything to the molecular level.

She immediately willed her divinity, simulating the power of order once again on the force. The world-ending force was erased from existence with a flash of wisdom.

With that, Apollo and Hermes immediately streaked past her. She even managed to catch a glimpse of them smiling at her before dashing past the finish line.

A tall and beautiful goddess descended near the finish line, wearing a glittering sleeveless dress, with her dark hair in piled-up braids circled with a gilded crown.

Nike, the Goddess of Victory!

Nike walked towards Apollo and raised her hand. With a burst of golden light, a gilded wreath woven with golden leaves from the laurel tree—the divine tree of Apollo—was revealed.

She glanced at Athena for permission, and the Lady of Wisdom nodded.

"This is the crown of victory for the Olympics!" Nike honored Apollo.

Apollo bowed his head under the eyes of all, and Nike placed the crown of victory on his head.

"The victor of the race of the first Olympics is…" She caught his hand and raised it.

"Phoebus Apollo!" The Goddess of Victory declared.